Brushed finish for early Hoovers
My first Hoover with a brushed finish was my 575. This finish does not seem to age as well as the highly polished ones, I suppose the scratch finish picks up dirt easier and having a slightly greater surface area is more prone to corrosion. As soon as you try to clean it up with anything abrasive it suddenly looks patchy.
In the few short months since I bought the 575 I have picked up two 541's, two 543's and another 575 (obsessive? moi?) so have been trying to work out how to recreate the original brushed finish on all of these machines without damaging the castings or removing too much metal.
Long story short; 8" Scotch brite mop wheel.
I am of the opinion that early models had a finer brushed finish than the 575 so I bought a fine and a medium wheel. After experimenting with a bit of scrap sheet and a sadly deceased 450 body I think I have cracked it.
I had expected the mop to remove scratches. It doesn't. My technique for the finish achieved in the pictures is: Clean the casting carefully. Ding out low spots with a small ball peen from underneath. Cross sand (side to side) with a palm sander fitted with 120 grit paper. That removes most scratches and should, with care provide an even under-surface. Then mop gently front to back (if you're too heavy handed the scratches are inconsistently deep and they pick up dirty alloy streak marks.
Its not perfect but its a whole lot better than 90 odd years of dirt and scratches..
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